


The One We Choose

by kooili



Category: Holby City
Genre: AAU family, Berena Appreciation Week, Berena Appreciation Week 2018, F/F, New Year's Eve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 09:23:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15682566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kooili/pseuds/kooili
Summary: It's a strangely quiet New Year on AAU.Sometimes found families are the best families...





	The One We Choose

**Author's Note:**

> For Berena Appreciation Week Day 2 - Prompt: Family.

Serena took another sip of her coffee and sighed. The usual holiday rush had failed to materialise; quite the opposite in fact. Not that she was complaining about the lack of patients per se. An unusual spell of heavy snowfall had meant that most of the populace were staying indoors instead of slipping on icy pavements or crashing their cars on the road. 

She had protested when Henrik suggested keeping AAU fully staffed “just in case” and was just about to let most of them go home anyway when an email about travel restrictions flashed across the top of her mobile screen. Her priority then became clearing the patients out as quickly as possible. Two needed nothing more than a period of observation and were sent up to Keller. Most of the walking wounded were fit enough to be discharged almost straight away, which left the one scheduled for theatre.

There hadn’t been a new admissions since yesterday evening when a group of drunken revellers were admitted by the ED after they slipped and fell whilst trying to place a traffic cone on the head of a statue at Queen Square. They seemed none the worse for wear and would have been sent home except for the fact that they were an average age of eighty two and the ones who were found clutching their knees and hips in pain had previously had one or both replaced in the recent past.

It turned out that it had been a good call after all. One of the admissions had what turned out to be a cracked tibia and the injury was impinging on an artery. They had debated, Bernie wanting to take him into surgery straight away and Serena arguing for a wait and see approach considering the patient’s age. The patient had shown increasing signs of discomfort overnight and they were waiting on the latest scan to see if there were any changes.  

Placing the now empty cup in the bin, she made her way out onto the ward towards the nurses’ station where Bernie and Fletch were sitting, heads crouched over a tablet. Serena quickened.

“Is that the CT angiogram?” Serena asked as she reached the desk.

Bernie looked up and nodded. “There is a bone fragment impinging on an artery and it looks like that the blood supply is slightly reduced.”

“Can I take a look?” Serena held her hand out for the tablet which Bernie handed over instantly. 

She scrutinised the images for a moment before nodding. “Yes, you’re right. There are definitely signs of some arterial damage.”

Bernie pulled herself upright and turned to Fletch. “Have theatre prepped right away and I’ll be there as soon as I’ve changed.”

Serena put a hand on her wife’s arm stopping her. “I’ll take this one Mr Fletcher. And have a Doppler ultrasound on standby in theatre as well.” 

Bernie gave her a look but followed silently as they made their way towards the office. Serena was halfway through emptying her pockets into a drawer in her desk when Bernie closed the door behind them and huffed, “I’m perfectly capable of doing the repair.”

It was a half-hearted effort at best and Serena answered without even looking up. “I know but you’ve done more than your fair share of surgeries this week and this is a vascular injury after all. I’ll be in and out within the hour.” She checked one last time, making sure she had everything stowed away before turning to face her wife.

Bernie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “If I didn’t know better, I might think you were avoiding desk duty.”

Serena gave her a look of mock indignation. “Not at all. I’ve completed my share of the paperwork and I thought you might appreciate an opportunity to do the same,” she said, nodding towards the pile of patient folders on Bernie’s desk before slipping out the door.

The ward was quiet by the time she finished the surgery and sent the patient up to Keller for his recuperation. Serena paused as she trudged back onto AAU, frowning at the unfamiliar sight of empty beds and the relative quiet from the usual hustle and bustle. Bernie had evidently been working hard at her paperwork and managed to clear the bulk of it in the brief time she was in theatre.

Serena resumed her steps towards their shared office, unsurprised to find it empty. With the ward being as quiet as it was, Bernie was probably away getting coffee or getting a breath of air, something to keep her occupied since there weren’t any patients or paperwork to distract her. Bernie Wolfe, she mused, smiling, wasn’t very good when it came to sitting about twiddling her thumbs. She was about to send a text asking where she was when Fletch stuck his head through the door. 

“Locum’s stuck on a train. The line’s snowed over and he doesn’t think he’ll be able to make it in tonight.” 

Serena sighed. Someone would need to stay and supervise a practically empty ward. She could delegate it to Morven or one of the juniors but it didn’t seem right for any of them to miss the holiday with their family.

“It’ll be fine, Mr Fletcher. I’ll stay on and hold the fort. Why don’t the rest of you head off before I change my mind?”

Serena watched as Morven, Raf and Fletch bundled out of the double doors, chattering away and bundled up to face the bitter cold. The looks on their faces were not unlike the one Jason had on his face when she announced that she would play him at one of his video games. A soft smile crept across her face. They were a good team. No, more than good.

She opened her laptop, pressing update on the email app to see if there had been any further update to the weather situation. The tiny coloured ball started spinning but stuttered after a few seconds.  Serena sighed and shut the app down and was about to restart it when the sound of conversation distracted her. She looked up and saw three familiar figures, covered with a light dusting of snow that was quickly melting, making their way towards her across the ward.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Morven announced glumly, unwrapping the scarf from around her neck.

“What?” 

Raf sighed and shrugged off his thick woollen overcoat. “All the roads are shut and the snow is waist high for miles around. The police were at the the front door keeping everyone in the building until it clears.”

Serena looked at their faces, pictures of glum resignation, and smiled. A thought was rapidly forming in her head. 

“Well, since we’re all stuck here, how about a New Year’s Eve Party in the staff room?”

Her suggestion was greeted almost immediately by confused looks.

Serena grinned and reached for the large drawer on the side of her desk, pulling it open.

“I take it we all like Shiraz?”

* * *

“Whose turn is it to get another bottle?” Morven asked, her voice starting to grow a little wobbly. She glanced round the table inquiringly and waited for someone to speak only to be met with silence. 

They had managed to scrape together a selection of snacks and drinks. Raf had returned from his locker with a bottle of white, a gift from a patient’s wife earlier in the week. Morven had, however, stolen the limelight when she appeared with two large carrier bags, having done her weekly shop at lunch time.

Serena sipped on her glass of red and arched an eyebrow in Raf’s direction. “Mr Di Lucca, I believe that’ll be you.” 

“I’m pretty sure I got the last one. Let’s see, what was it? That’s right, the bottle of white.”

Morven snorted and waved a hand dismissively. “You practically drank all of it on your own so that doesn’t count.” 

He turned towards Serena, hoping for support but finding none. Heaving a huge sigh, he pushed himself out of the chair and padded his way across the room, ducking to reach into a large carrier bag on floor. There was a loud clunk when he knocked over a bottle which fell onto the one next to it. The noise  was loud enough to stir the body sprawled across a small sofa in the opposite corner. An arm shifted, quickly followed by a loud groan and more movement as a dark head lifted off the cushioned armrest.

“What time is it?” Fletch pushed himself upright, pinched the bridge of his nose and blinked. 

Raf retrieved the bottle he was looking for and plonked it in the middle of the table. “Ten to midnight. You woke up just in time for the bells, mate.”

“Some way to welcome the New Year, eh?” the nurse grumbled as he staggered onto his feet. “First time in months we’ve managed to clear all the beds-“

“There’s still Mr Choudhury in bay two,” Morven interrupted, reminding him of the lone patient who was sound asleep the last time she checked, an hour ago.

“He’s already discharged so that doesn’t really count,” he countered. “And we would have an empty ward if you hadn’t offered him a bed for the night.”

“There wasn’t any point in him leaving since all the roads are shut.”

Fletch rolled his eyes. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate that until he wakes up and finds that he’s not getting fed because he’s been discharged.”

Raf grinned, joining in. “You may have to get him something from the vending machines in the morning.”

Morven gave them both pointed glares before turning back to Serena. “I know it’s not NHS policy but…”

Serena nodded. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.” 

Her reassurance earned her a beaming smile from Morven.

“I suppose it could be worse and we could be swamped with the usual holiday rush,” Fletch conceded, a little grumpily.

Serena reached over and patted him on the arm. “I’m just sorry that you’ve all had to miss spending the holidays with the family.” She looked at them fondly with a tinge of regret.

“I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m not going to miss pizza and beer in front of telly with him,” Raf snorted, tipping his head towards Fletch.

“That’s because you’re a snob. Nothing wrong with ham and pineapple.” His remark earned Fletch a roll of the eyes, which he ignored. “Evie’s away at a friend’s and the younger ones are spending the weekend with their great aunt Agnes. She just moved back to Holby after twenty years abroad and was over the moon at getting to spend time with them. I warned her but she wouldn’t listen.” Fletch shrugged.

Morven sidled up next to Serena and wrapped her arm around her shoulder in a spontaneous hug. “This is holidays with the family. Annoying big brothers,” she said, throwing a look at the men, “and you and Ms Wolfe are like mum and mum.”

Serena’s face pinked with delight. They were a good team who cared and had each other’s back, the definition of a family. Speaking of which…

“Have any of you seen Ms Wolfe?” She had received a garbled voicemail a little earlier, barely able to make out the words ‘back’ and ‘soon’ before the line cut out. 

All three of them shook their head. Serena was about to check her mobile again when the door to the staff room flew open, revealing a figure covered with snow and buried under so many layers of clothing that it looked like a cross between a yeti and the Michelin Man. It walked slowly into the room, hands moving to shed the protective padding, eventually revealing the familiar mop of tangled golden curls and a face pink from cold.

“Bernie!” Serena closed the gap and wrapped her wife into a tight hug and a kiss. “Where on earth have you been?”

Her partner answered by dropping the large carrier bag she was holding onto the floor, its contents making a loud clinking sound. “I thought we should have something fizzy to ring the new year in but all the nearby shops were shut. The first one I came to that wasn’t had run out of champagne and by that time, I was close to the house so…”

Serena gave her an incredulous look. “So, you went all that way to get a bottle of champagne and decided that you’d come back through all this snow anyway even though you could have just stayed home.”

Bernie gave her a baffled look. “Of course. It wouldn’t be the same without you.” She kissed the tip of Serena’s nose before looking up at Morven, Fletch and Raf. “Without all of you.”

Somewhere in the distance there was the sound of fireworks going off, signalling the dawn of a new year. Serena pulled Bernie a little closer and watched as Raf attempted to pop the cork on the bottle of champagne, Fletch and Morven standing by with the glasses. This was home, family, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.


End file.
